Wind Power News: Alaska
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
GVEA denies wind farm request
FAIRBANKS – Golden Valley Electric Association officials said the electric co-op has denied a request for interconnection from Delta Wind Farm which proposed construction of a 13.5 megawatt wind farm in the Delta Junction area. GVEA officials said the proposal was rejected because an additional wind farm would be a greater expense to the co-op and its customers. After Delta Wind Farm submitted their interconnection request in December, GVEA hired Mike Hubbard – a system modeling consultant – to conduct a detailed analysis . . . Complete story »
Delta Junction wind farmer appeals RCA’s tariff decision
FAIRBANKS – Wind farmer Mike Craft is appealing the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s decision to approve a tariff he said is illegal. Craft is the managing owner of Alaska Environmental Power, a nine turbine, two megawatt wind farm in the Delta Junction area. In July 2016, the RCA approved Golden Valley Electrical Association’s tariff sheet, which details what the utility charges independent power producers of wind and solar energy for service, and the justification for those charges, among other things. Craft . . . Complete story »
Wind-farm developer asks court to overturn state agency’s approval of ‘illegal’ GVEA tariff
Delta Wind Farm President and CEO Mike Craft is taking the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to court. Craft is asking a judge to overturn the commission’s approval of a Golden Valley Electric Association tariff filed last summer. He claims the tariff violates new state regulations intended to help renewable-energy projects like his access the grid. In a brief filed earlier this month in Anchorage Superior Court, Mike Craft says the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s approval of a tariff filed last . . . Complete story »
A state-by-state look at renewable energy requirements
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have requirements that utilities get a certain amount of their electricity from renewable sources. Nine additional states have goals for renewable energy, while a dozen others have no targets. A state-by-state look at renewable energy policies. ALABAMA No renewable energy standard. ALASKA A bill passed in 2010 sets a goal, but not a requirement, for Alaska to receive half its electricity from renewable and alternative energy sources by 2025. ARIZONA Public utilities must . . . Complete story »
Independent power producers declare victory after regulations update
FAIRBANKS—The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has approved new regulations for the way utilities buy electricity from smaller-scale, independent power producers, including a Delta Junction wind farm in a pricing dispute for several years with Golden Valley Electric Association in Fairbanks. Set to go into effect statewide this spring, the regulations adopted Friday are the result of complaints against Golden Valley filed with the commission by Mike Craft, who owns the Delta wind farm under the business name Alaska Environmental Power. . . . Complete story »
Fire traps two on wind turbine in Bering Sea island
A Thursday fire briefly trapped two workers with the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative at the top of a wind turbine in a Western Alaska island village, until residents responded to put out the blaze. According to a Thursday AST dispatch, troopers were informed about 12:30 p.m. Thursday of the fire in Mekoryuk, a community of about 210 people on Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea nearly 150 miles west of Bethel. “There was a fire inside the base of the . . . Complete story »
Lack of customers puts CIRI wind farm plans on hold
A plan that once envisioned 33 turbines on the island west of Anchorage has stalled at 11. CIRI’s only customer is the Chugach Electric Association. Chugach says it’s taking all the wind power it can under present conditions. The other utilities have turned CIRI down. The Municipal Light and Power company says it’s not interested; the Matanuska Electric Association says it doesn’t pencil out for them, and the Golden Valley Electric Association is so far away that the cost of . . . Complete story »
With no buyers for power, Fire Island Wind delays adding turbines
Plans to add turbines to the Fire Island Wind project were suspended this month when the project ran into a hitch: No one wants to buy the power. Suzanne Gibson, senior director of energy development for Cook Inlet Region Inc., said the independent power producer had to cancel construction and shipping contracts that would have added 11 wind turbines to Anchorage’s Fire Island. That happened after Alaska Railbelt utilities declined to purchase the company’s power following two years of negotiations. . . . Complete story »
Electrical blowout stops turbine at Nome wind farm
An electrical blowout at one of the large wind turbines northwest of town has put the machine out of commission, effectively reducing Nome’s wind energy by a third. Nome Joint Utility manager John Handeland said the issue arose shortly before 4 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 10, when capacitors at the base of the unit, within the control cabinet, overloaded. That brought the 900 kilowatt turbine—and its three 85-foot long blades—to an abrupt halt. Losing the 900 kW output from the . . . Complete story »
GVEA rejects Delta Junction wind farm offer
FAIRBANKS – The developer of a wind farm in Delta Junction is continuing to push Golden Valley Electric Association to buy his power, despite continued rejection from the Interior Alaska electric utility. Mike Craft, who created and operates the Delta Wind Farm, released a report to the public this week outlining the viability of his wind farm and attempting to discount GVEA’s arguments against buying more of his electricity. The utility has been willing to buy back as much as 2 . . . Complete story »